Historic PB home passed down to the next generation

One of the oldest families in Palm Beach handed off one of the oldest structures on the island from one generation to the next.

Leigh McMakin and his wife Mimi Maddock McMakin transferred the $7 million deed to Old Bethesda-by-the-Sea, a former church that faces the lake at 306 Maddock Way, to their daughter Celerie Kemble and her husband Ravenel Boykin Curry IV, according to the Palm Beach Daily News.

Leigh is descended from Henry Maddock, who built the lakefront Duck’s Nest in 1891 — the second-oldest home on the island. The Episcopal Church of Bethesda-by-the-Sea was constructed next door and served the community until it was deconsecrated in the mid-1920s.

The building became a private home, passed down through the Maddock family.

Mimi McMakin’s daughters and grandchildren are the fifth and sixth generations with ties to the old church building.

“That’s pretty special in this town, right?” Mimi McMakin said. “It’s a tribute to the town and to family.” [Palm Beach Daily News] – Christopher Cameron